Motherwell's Nathan McGinley still facing "substantial amount of time" before comeback amid training return

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell is delighted to see defender Nathan McGinley back on the training pitch after 14 months out of the game - but warned he is still a long way off first team action.

The 26-year-old left-back, who joined the club almost three years ago, has been sidelined since March last year with an undisclosed issue and is now back among the first team squad as this season draws to a close.

However, ahead of Saturday's Premiership clash with Ross County, Kettlewell admits there is "a substantial amount of time to come" before the Englishman is back in claret and amber.

He said: “It’s nice to see Nathan back out on the park. It’s been a really, really tough struggle for him. I've only got to know him over the last couple of months and I haven't worked with him previously.

"He is out doing some very, very light work on the pitch.

“Fourteen months out the game is an awful long time and from what I hear from Nathan, the medical team and the sports science guys, there is a substantial amount of time that has to come now in terms of that build-up, and that’s provided there is no hiccup.

“It’s not just a case of getting back on the park and then he is available for selection or able to go straight into pre-season, there is an awful lot of work that has to go in to build Nathan up before to such a point that we can put him back into training sessions.

“The first step is there but we hadn’t got him on the park even to do light running during that 14 months, so that is a massive step.

"It was really nice to see him come back on the park and the round of applause from the players shows the togetherness we've got at the football club and the feel-good factor.

"I really hope he can kick on in the coming weeks and